GET OUT! Sept. 9 to 11

September 9, 2016

By PAM HARBAUGH

Sooo much is popping this weekend and next week. Be sure to take a read of this GET OUT! post so you’ll stay in the know when it comes to some very cool arts and culture activity. Of particular note are two goodies happening tonight — the opening of “Hand to God” a the Henegar; and the debut of “Dilettante Filmhaus” at the Derek Gores Gallery.

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Theater

HAND TO GOD is about to add to the provocative reputation of the little theater known as Upstairs at the Henegar. Robert Askins’ dark comedy pits evil against good. It opens in the basement of a Lutheran church in a small Texas town. There, a widow runs a puppet ministry to a group of three misfit teens who form her “Christcateers.” But one puppet, Tyrone, takes a decidedly devilish turn.

Logan Ayala as Jason and Shane Frampton as Marge in “Hand to God” at the Henegar Center. Photo by Dana Niemeier.

Directed by Hank Rion, this production is for the open minded, the humor informed and the age enhanced (meaning no one under 17 admitted without an adult due to the graphic violence, unrestrained language, adult situations and nudity). The show opens tonight and runs through Sept. 25 in the intimate second floor studio theater. Tickets are $18 to $20. The Henegar is at 625 E. New Haven Ave., Melbourne. Call 321-723-8698, visit Henegar.org or click onto their ad.

INFORMATION will commemorate Constitution Day Tuesday and Wednesday at Eastern Florida State College. The production is presented by the college’s Performing and Visual Arts Department’s acting program. It also addresses issues in the global “Green Dot” initiative, formed to get bystanders involved to prevent personal violence. As such, subject matter includes sexual assault and abuse of power on the campus of a small college. Performances will be followed by panel discussions. Curtain is 7 p.m. Tuesday and 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Simpkins Fine Arts Center’s Studio Theater — building 4, EFSC, 1519 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, FL. Admission is free. (And, yes, the performances come before Constitution Day, which is actually Saturday, Sept. 17.) Call 321-433-5200 or click here.

“Information” as presented by the acting class at Eastern Florida State College.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE closes Sunday at Melbourne Civic Theatre and I sure hope you’ve made a point to see MCT’s excellent production. This Christopher Durang comedy is very well written and the MCT production is very good with excellent performances. To read the review, click here. Tickets are $26 to $28. MCT is at 817 E. Strawbridge Ave., Melbourne. Call 321-723-6935, visit MyMCT.org or click onto their ad.

DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST also closes Sunday at the Titusville Playhouse. The musical is a popular one and loved by all. Tickets are $20 to $28. Titusville Playhouse is at 301 Julia St., Titusville. Call 321-268-1125, visit TitusvillePlayhouse.com or click on their ad.

Nightlife

DILETTANTE FILMHAUS debuts 8 p.m. tonight at Derek Gores Gallery. The first film out in this new series of great-artsy-things-to-do in Brevard is the Buster Keaton movie “The General.” As the press release states, “The classic film showcases Buster Keaton’s astonishing stunt work on moving trains, his genius in physical comedy and his talent as a storyteller. As Roger Ebert put it when giving it four stars, “‘The General’ is an epic of silent comedy, one of the most expensive films of its time, including an accurate historical recreation of a Civil War episode, hundreds of extras, dangerous stunt sequences, and an actual locomotive falling from a burning bridge into a gorge far below’.” I’m sold! What’s more is that following the screening, a selection of short videos will compete to see which one succeeded best at the challenge to create a one to two minute video that uses physical comedy to tell a story. Dilettante Filmhaus is the brain child of videographer and filmmaker Sarah Walker. Admission is $7. The Derek Gores Gallery is at 587 W. Eau Gallie Blvd., Melbourne. To purchase tickets, click here.

Buster Keaton in “The General.”

FIREFALL, POCO & PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE begins 8 p.m. Saturday at the King Center. The show features three of America’s top country rock groups, each of them a pioneer in the genre. Tickets begin at $64. The King Center is at 3865 N. Wickham Rd., Melbourne. Call 321-242-2219, visit KingCenter.com or click onto their ad.

COMEDY ZONE at Riverside Theatre brings stand up comics Eric DaSilva and John Charles to town tonight and Saturday. Mr. DaSilva has performed at Backstage Fillmore Theater in Miami Beach, Comedy Central’s South Beach Comedy Festival, Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Festival, Norfolk Comedy Festival and has a one hour comedy album, “Adorably Offensive.” Mr. Charles has performed at Improv Chain, Bonkerz, New York Comedy Club, Off-The-Hook Comedy Club, and on Cox Radio’s “Comedy Golf Classic.” The Comedy Zone shows begin 7:30 and 9:30 tonight and Saturday. Patrons to the Comedy Zone can also enjoy free music before the shows and casino games in the lobby. Riverside Theatre is at 3250 Riverside Drive, Vero Beach. Get there early and buy a burger and a beer if you like. Tickets begin at $16. Call 772-231-6990, visit RiversideTheatre.com or click onto their ad.

HEIDI’S JAZZ CLUB is taking its annual vacation and will re-open September 23. So you’ll have to wait for your jazz fix. Until then, stay up to date about Heidi’s by visiting HeidisJazzClub.com.

GRACE LEAL will exhibit works beginning Tuesday in the Frits Van Eeden Gallery in the Florida Institute of Technology’s Renee Foosaner Education Center. Ms. Leal is a naive of Havana, Cuba and moved to the U.S. as a child. She is fascinated by a wide range of subjects, especially migration, acculturation and the stories cultures carry. This exhibition explores the artists bent toward using found objects to create scultpures and assemblages. In this piece, “Toti No. 1,” the artist refers to a popular Cuban expression, “La culpa de todo la tiene el toti,” which means “The crow holds all the blame.” The Foosaner Education Center is at 1520 Highland Ave. in the Eau Gallie Arts District of Melbourne. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, as well as from 5:30-7:30 p.m. the first Friday of each month. Admission is free. The artist’s reception is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7. A Gallery Talk will be held starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18. Both events are free and open to the public. Call 321-674-8923, visit FoosanerArtMuseum.org or click onto their ad.

100% PURE FLORIDA runs through September at the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery. The Fifth Avenue Art Gallery is at 1470 Highland Avenue, Melbourne. The $500 first place award went to Gabrielle DiTota for her work “Foliage.” She will also receive a solo show next year. The second place $300 award went to Nancy Hamlin-Vogler for “Linear Elements: Birds.” The third place $200 prize went to Thom Harrell, for “Imminent Danger.” Call 321-259-8261 or visit FifthAvenueArtGallery.com.

“Foliage” by Gabrielle DiTota won first place at 2016 100% Pure Florida at the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery.

HARAK RUBIO: Symbols and Guardians runs through Oct. 15 at Florida Institute of Technology’s Foosaner Art Museum and runs through Oct. 15. It comprises 32 large scale abstract paintings and 14 sculptures. Mr. Rubio, a Puerto Rican native and Melbourne resident who has won numerous awards and honors. His work is seen widely throughout Latin America. He has worked in advertising and video serving as designer, art director, prop master and more at numerous big name companies such as Universal Pictures, Miramax Films, Trivisión Spain, Animal Planet, USA Network, ABC and CBS networks, Quentin Tarantino Productions and MTV. The Foosaner is at 1463 Highland Ave., Melbourne. Call 321-674-8916 or visit FoosanerArtMuseum.org or click onto their ad.

TEN WOMEN IN ART exhibit runs through beginning of October at the Derek Gores Gallery, 587 W. Eau Gallie Blvd., Melbourne. This is a long standing, highly respected alliance of excellent artists who have exhibited all over the state and the southeast. You will be moved and intrigued. Visit DerekGores.com.

Welcome

Brevard Culture is the place to find the latest news and reviews of the arts in and around Brevard County, Orlando and Vero Beach Florida. We also highlight cultural news of interest outside the area. Brevard Culture editor, Pam Harbaugh, is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and served as arts writer/theater critic for more than 25 years at Florida Today newspaper.